Halo: Understanding
by Zygarde22
Summary: A human war veteran named James Evens finds himself in the strange employment of a female Sangheili and her sarcastic wise mouthed Jiralhanae assistant. Set post Halo 3 and ignores the Kilo Five books with a few notted exceptions.
1. The Beginning (Rewrite)

**Sup people how's it going remember this fic well, it's been rewritten so enjoy it with some updated grammar, spelling and what not, still no editor (PS any one interested in becoming my editor, please contact me pronto.) also this story ignores the last couple of Halo books particularly Glasslands since to me it diverged too far from what pre-established Halo canon was. While I still mention a few plot points from those books like the ****Sangheili**** civil war and other things so without further ado enjoy**

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><p>Lieutenant James Evens coughed as he spat out the fluid coursing through his lungs, he hated revival after Cryo, he was aboard the UNSC Few Good Men and it was returned to earth after a few years away from the planet for a few years during the war with the Covenant.<p>

"God damn why this stuff can never come out normal" James complained as he spat out more and more of the mucus like substance from his lungs after his fourth dry heave he cleared the vile substance from his throat and headed to the locker area to get his clothes. From the locker and to the mess he waited for the ship to hit the space port so he could catch the nearest flight to Michigan and to his home town. The town hasn't changed much in the seven years he was gone from the town.

Stepping out of the cab and paying the driver Even looked around the place where he grew up.

"Same trees, same houses everything the..same." For some reason this was not as comforting to him as expected, but he pushed this thought to the back of his mind since he had a few things to take care of first he needed to talk to his mother who he hadn't seen since he went to officer training. He walked up to the door to his parents' house straightened his dress whites and gave the door three swift knocks.

"Coming!" he heard his mother yell the door opened to show a woman around the age of forty, she gave Evens one look and launched into one of the largest hugs he'd ever received.

"James you're back!" his mother shouted as she continued to wrap her arms around him.

"Yeah, I just got back a couple of minutes ago." he spoke his mother let go of him to look him up and down, he had changed much in the years that he was gone and yet he was still the same twenty four year old he was when he went to OCS.

"If your father could see you now he would be so proud." his mother said with tears swelling in his eyes.

"Thanks mom that means a lot to me." after exchanging a few more pleasantries Even went to check on one other thing in the town a small store owned by his grandmother Margaret. She told him that after he got back the store was his but she would also give it to any person who wanted to buy it. When he made it to the storefront he noticed a person in a bright yellow floral pattern sundress a straw hat atop their head, it was a Sangheili female.

He cautiously walked up to her and spoke up.

"Um are you the new owner of this establishment?" he asked the alien woman glanced at him and nodded.

"Um... may I ask when you purchased it?"

"A few months ago I only just managed to get here, why?" she replied

"It used to belong to my grandmother, I was hoping to run it, but if you've already purchased it..." he trailed off unsure of how to finish the sentence. He was about to leave, but he was halted by a large hulking beast a Jiralhanae male, Even flinched slightly, but the brute just walked past him with several large boxes in his hand.

"That's Racubus my assistant and an old friend of mine." the Sangheili woman spoke."And I'm Raza Lodam, and if you'd like I can offer you a job here?" she stated as she extends her hand, James took it with a slight smile.

"So what do you need me to do?" James

"Nothing now but I will need some help setting up so you can help with that." she replied and so James Racubus and Raza spent most of the day moving and unboxing crates and making small talk by the time they were finished James was bone tired, now they were setting up for when the shop opened Raza placing items on shelves and he and Racubus trying to fix a light fixture that had gone out

"Now that that's complete I hope we can get this place in running condition in a few days." Raza said as she looked over the store. "By the way Mr. Evens is it?"

"Um, you can just call me James."

"Ah well James I will need your help doing one last task." she spoke as she put some cans on a shelf.

"What's that." he replied, still focused on fixing the light.

"You know everyone in this town correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I need you to introduce me and Racubus to its people."

"Sure we'll start with my mom since she talks to everyone in town." this seemed to be the response she wanted since she smiled (or as best he figured she could with her mandibles). As night began to fall James said his goodbyes and went to his abode, he flopped into his bed and sighed, he was going to have to explain to his mom this whole situation but that was a problem for the next day.

"Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day." he spoke as he started to doze off.

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><p><strong>Alright people, I hope you like the rewrite I will be working on the other chapters soon, but until then enjoy and please do review. <strong>


	2. The Old Friend(Rewrite)

**Hello people how's it going I'm now writing chapter two so enjoy and remember to review and favorite**

**Halo is the product of 343 Industries**

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><p>Even was woken up by the sound of a rock pelting his window, yawning and getting up he opened the window to see who it was.<p>

"Hey will you stop throwing fuck-" he was cut off when a rock beamed him squarely in the forehead.

"Oh sorry James!" he heard a feminine voice speak, he looked down to see a person he hadn't seen since he left for OCS it was his old friend Rebecca.

"Ugh it's okay just give me a minute I'll be down their...as soon as I find some gauze and some rubbing alcohol ." Taking a few minutes to bandage his head and put on his bathrobe Even descended the stairs of his house and walked up to the front door to see Rebecca with her best puppy dog face.

"I didn't fall for that face in eight grade and it sure won't work on me now." he spoke with a hint of tiredness in his voice.

"Sorry it's just you weren't answering your Chatter and I couldn't think of a better way to get your attention." she said rubbing the back of her head in an apologetic fashion.

"So what brings you around my house?" he asked as hoping to ascertain why she decided pelting his window and head with rocks as a good idea.

"Well I heard from your mom that you got back yesterday so I wanted to check on my alien killing rough riding soldier of a friend." she said giving him a playful punch in the arm.

"Ha ha, I wasn't an alien killer I was a coms officer for a ship that barely saw any covies."

"Way to ruin my fantasy, also I wanted to fill you in on some of the stuff that happened while you were gone. " she said in a sing song voice, she then held out her right hand to show him a ring.

"Um...it's a ring." he said bluntly this caused her to sigh in both annoyance and slight disappointment .

"Yes stupid I know it's a ring it's my wedding ring I got married."

"Oh , yeah I forgot about that it was to Eric right?" he spoke remembering his other friend from his younger years, Eric was always trying to get Rebecca's attention and in the time since he was gone it apparently worked.

"Yep, we have a daughter and everything." she then heard a beep on her chatter looking at the device she let out another sigh.

"Well looks like we'll have to cut this reunion short I got to get to work see you soon." she said as she left from the front door and off into the distance, this remanded Even he had to get ready for his second day working for Raza. Taking a shower and getting dressed quickly James ran down to the store where Racubus was sweeping away some dirt and dust from out of the porch of the store.

"Morning Racubus is Raza here?" the jiralhanae male then pointed his thumb to the stores cash register where Raza was messing with several of the machines parts to bring it back into working order.

"God was grandma still using that dinosaur?" he commented on the age of the device at hand the register had to be at least forty to thirty years out of date, not even having a rudimentary "Dumb" AI to run it.

"Yes well it seems your grandmother was much in the way of keeping old things while cleaning out the supply closet I cataloged at least sixty items years passed their due dates." Raza spoke as she continued to do her work on the register.

"I see well, anything you need me to do?" James asked hoping to preoccupy the time before he got off for break so he could call his mother to set up the diner for Raza and her to meet.

"Yes there is one task I need dealt with." she then pointed to where the attic was "I need you to eliminate a nest of pestering insects that have taken residence up there." James looked at the attic and sighed one other thing he remembered his grandmother had a penchant for doing, making him deal with the wasps that like to set up shop in the attic.

"Got it just let me go get the torch and the bee keeper suit we keep here." twenty minutes passed and James returned holding a small blow torch and donned in a white bee keepers suit.

"Okay give me a good half hour and those damn things will be history." he spoke confidently as he ascended the ladder to the attic, upon reaching the top he was greeted by a sight he was while not outright out-ruling was still surprised to see. The entirety of the attic was covered in a multiple wasp nest each

"Well shit." he sighed and began to work to remove the pest insects from the ceiling the walls and occasionally the floor by the time he was done the place smelled of burning paper and he was covered head to toe in ash, coming down the ladder he was greeted by a sight he was not expecting his friend Rebecca was talking to Raza.

"Oh then there was this time in middle school where he- oh hey James I just came by to see you." Rebecca spoke giving him a friendly wave.

"Yeah hey um how did you find out where I was working?" he asked

"Your mom told me." she answered, which only caused more confusion since he never told his mom where he was working but he imagined he would answer that question when he got to it later that night.

"...right well Raza I'm going on break I'll see you guys in a bit." he spoke as he walked outside the store making his way to a restaurant near where he was he pulled out his chatter and pinned his mothers number, after a few beeps his mother picked up

"Hello Laura speaking." his mother spoke

"Hey mom it's James, I have a favor to ask ." he cleared his throat and began to add more details "Okay um look I have a new boss and well she's not exactly from around here and she was hoping that you could introduce her to some of the neighbors and maybe show her around you know?" he saw his mother give him a thoughtful look via the chatter video screen and then she spoke.

"Sure dear, hmm is she pretty?" his mother asked the question catching him off guard.

"Um sure I guess she's pretty in a way." he replied hoping she would forget this train of thought.

"But yes you can bring her to dinner, tell her to come at about nine okay.

"sure okay see you then." he said as he shut down the chatter and put it back into his pocket, nine 'O'clock he was going to introduce his boss, his alien boss his alien female boss. Somehow he had never thought his life was going to be this weird or strange. Still he had some lunch to eat he would worry about that when he got to it.

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><p><strong>Okay that's the end of chapter 2 I hoped you guys enjoyed it and please do review and I will be releasing chapter 3 of The Ties that Bind Us soon but until then do take care and DFTBA. <strong>


	3. The Lie Part One(Rewrite)

**So after posting three chapters of my Pokémon story here's another chapter of Halo: Understanding. This has been a long time in the making and so I hope you enjoy.**

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><p>Even looked at the watch on his wrist, a thing he figured he would never be doing in the year 2553, but he wanted to look presentable to his mother when he brought his boss to dinner that night. Dwelling on the situation the thing seemed like he was bringing a new girlfriend to see his mom and not introducing his boss, granted not many people had a boss that was a seven-foot tall alien who was friends with a nine-foot tall gorilla man. His life was fucking weird.<p>

The time was 8:00 PM and it was already sunset so his boss and coworker would be arriving any minute. He took a moment to admire his outfit, a nice white button down shirt and a pair of black slacks which, in his opinion made him look damn good.

"It's good to see you Mr. Evens." James heard turning his head he saw Racubus and Raza standing in his mothers front lawn. He shook Razas hand then Racubususis and lead them inside. The scent of his mothers cooking wafted through the air it was his favorite dish meatloaf.

"Hmm I've not smelled a feast so succulent since my times on Doisac." Racubus said, his mother walked through the threshold of the kitchen and nearly jumped when she saw the two aliens behind her son.

"James are these you're...friends?" she asked hoping not to offend them. He nodded, carefully she walked up to introduce herself to the two aliens.

"Hello my name is Linda I'm Evan's mother and you two are?" she asked the two aliens.

"I am Raza, Evans current employer and this is my friend and assistant Racubus." The alien then extended her hand which Evan's mother took and shook it, she did the same with Racubus. After putting down some plates and pulling the meatloaf and other foods onto the plate the four began to eat and make small talk.

"So tell me Miss Raza is it?" Linda asked.

"By your naming customs my name would actually be Miss Lodam, but you can just call me Raza."

"Ah, well Raza when did you get here?" Linda asked taking a spoonful of peas. The alien woman let out a sigh, "Oh I didn't mean to offend." Linda added.

"No it's just it's a tiring affair." Raza says, as she begins recounting the Sangheili Civil War, the death of her brother and her husband at the hands of separatist.

"My, Raza I feel your pain I lost my husband during the Human-Covenant war." Linda stated, Raza smiled as best she could with her mandibles, The two continued to talk throughout the dinner after a small desert, Raza, Evens and Racubus sat on the porch of the house looking at the stars enjoying the cool night air.

"I see you and my mom got along well." Evens spoke as he took a drag of a cigarette, a habit he picked up while he was in the Navy.

"Yes we have a lot in common." Raza said as she absently

"You're mother has a way with cooked meets my friend." Racubus said, letting out a bellowing roar that caused the two to jump slightly at the sudden noise. seeing this he let out a hearty laugh at their expense.

"Thanks Racubus I'll tell her that next time I'm over. " He spoke.

"So, Raza do you think my mother, will help you with the meeting the neighborhood thing?" he asked, the alien woman again attempted to smile.

"Yes, I think I have left a grand impression." Racubus got up and made his way to the stairs of the porch, "It was a good time here thank you my friend I appreciate this I imagine Arad would be fond of you two." She said mentioning her dead husband, Disappearing into the night leaving Evens alone putting out the cigarette Evens returned to his house shedding his clothing and slipping into some sleeping cloths he went to bed, his dreams filled with a certain Sangheili female in a sundress. The next day he was awoken by his alarm which made him groan. it was now time to deal with 'It', 'It' being his shower Dumb AI nicknamed Wasser. Wasser was a vindictive thing, for a such a single-minded AI . Stepping into the Shower he looked at the small panel that had a two dot indicating eyes.

"Alright shower I don't like you and you sure as hell don't like me." He stated, "Now if you would be kind Wasser please activate warm water." he said, hoping that the AI did not fuck him over again.

"Dispensing water." the AI said in a monotone voice, out from the nozzle head shot out nearly boiling water, causing Evens to jump and slip on his back letting out a loud yelp. Falling on his back he felt the water turn from hot to warm, as he rubbed his back.

"I fucking hate you Wasser." he said has he got back up, after a painful shower and taking some aspirin to clear his headache, he made his way outside and back to the store, inside he saw Raza yelling on what he could assume was a phone or whatever Sangheili used as phones.

"No mother I have not found another husband." She said indicating that this was a personal call and he tried to distance himself from her to give her some privacy. after what seemed like thirty minutes, Raza stepped out of the shop and let out a loud yell of anger, and punched one of the windows smashing the glass and causing Even to jump away in fear.

"Holy god Raza, what got you pissed!?" Even said as he inspected the damage to the window, Raza had smashed it completely and without effort.

"It's my mother she has been, an annoyance as of late." Raza spoke.

"She keeps imploring me to find a new husband and return back to Sanghelios." She added.

"Well can't you tell her you're looking." He said as he began to pick up the shards of glass.

"I couldn't my mother is an overbearing woman." Raza sighed out, "Plus I may have told her that I have found another mate." Even gave her a skeptical look, she gave another attempted smile.

"Who, Racubus?" he asked she shook her head.

"No, I...may have told her that my current mate was um...you." Even gave her a look of disbelief. in the background he could hear Racubus laughing again, no doubt at his expense again. This was going to be a long, long , long day he thought.

_**End of Part 1.**_

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><p><em><strong>Well that took a while but I'm glad I got that done, that was a bit ham-fisted in my opinion but I needed to get the ball rolling on the plot. <strong>_


	4. The Lie Part 2(Rewrite)

**Part two Chapter 3. took me a while to write cause I started working on my LP series which you should all go watch now (I'll Link it on my profile or something.) any way enjoy part two.**

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><p>Even for the most part never been in a situation that he is in now. Never has he had to lie on such a strange and large-scale as to trick half a clan of hard-ass aliens in to thinking he and their daughter were married or at least bonded romantically. Oh how he wished he was not in this situation. He was sitting in his mother's house along with four other people Raza and her mother and her younger brother and his mother, the air was so thick and wrought with tension that you could only cut through it with an energy sword.<p>

This situation started three days ago when Raza had told him of the lie she was about to conceive upon her family.

"Why me! Why me of all the people you could have done this with you pick me!?" he yelled as he nearly ripped his hear out in frustration. It was one thing for her to try to do this but to do it and not even get his consent was another.

"I panicked, am I not allowed my moments of idiocy!?" Raza yelled back, all the while Racubus was laughing a large hearty cackle, the thing seeming like one big joke to the Jiralhanae. Even let out a sigh of annoyance.

"Okay we can fix this all we need to do is contact your mother and tell her this is a huge mistake." He said, Raza gave him a look that he could not discern damn alien facial features .

"That won't be possible." She said, Even gave her a look of pure malice at this information.

"What do you mean not possible?" He asked hoping for a descent explanation on why, the alien woman sighed.

"My mother and brother are already near earth and should be here in two days, and I cannot delay them." She said, even face palmed, his day was getting better and better with each passing moment. Seeing no other way out of this he let out another sigh.

"Okay fine how are we gonna have to make this work." He said and so over the course of two days the two had come up with a plan and had told his mother of the plan which she was very amused with.

"Oh my James, I would have never thought you the fake marriage type." His mother said trying to suppress a laugh at her sons expense.

"Mom this is serious if I don't do this right I run the risk of getting flayed alive by a pissed off alien matriarch!" The seriousness of the situation coming through in his voice, his mother placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring look.

"Don't worry I'm sure Raza's mother will find you likeable." She said, why did he have the feeling like his mom was already on-board with him marrying an alien, he decided to push that thought aside for another time perhaps in therapy later in life. Finally the day of reckoning as he called it had arrived. it was a Tuesday, he had driven Raza to the spaceport to pick up her mother and brother from their ship, Her mother wore traditional Sangheili robes which made her look larger than she was and her brother wore the battle harnesses of the warriors. When they arrived she had greeted them in Sangheili which he understood none of and he didn't have his translator with him.

"Mother, brother this is James Evens, my mate." Raza said as she introduced him to the two, to say he was having a mini heart attack was an understatement his heart was racing as he extended his hands out hoping they would recognize the gesture. Her brother luckily did and accepted the handshake.

"You are the human male my sister has spoken off, you seem smaller than I would imagine." The male Sangheili said as he inspected Even. This made him feel slightly annoyed Even was at least six feet tall so he was by most human standards pretty tall.

"Well I'm quite tall for human standards I assure you." He said the male chuckled, that was a good sign he hoped. The four then loaded into Evens car and he drove them to his mother's house during the trip he tried his best to start small talk with them.

"So how was your trip to earth?" He asked trying to break the ice.

"It was interesting I've never been to this planet, but Na'lle was here during the battle of earth." she said, Na'lle must have been her brother's name.

"Yes, it looks a lot more peaceful than when I was here." Na'lle said as he looked out the window at the nature of the small rural town that Even called his home.

"Yeah, it is I guess I wasn't here for that unfortunately." Even said commenting on the battle of Earth which was the turning point for the human-covenant war, "Oh, that reminds me why are you in battle dress?" he asked Na'lle.

"It is my sworn duty to protect the matriarch of our clan, and as such I must be ready for an attack at any moment." He said, finally they made it to his mom's house and the three were greeted by her as they stepped out of the car.

"Good day, welcome to our simple abode miss...?"

"Rana, and this is my son Na'lle." The Sangheili matriarch said as she introduced herself. She ushered them into the house and into the parlor room where the five of them sat in relative silence, thus the situation that Even was in.

"So tell us Mr. Evens' what did you do during the war?" Rana asked breaking the silence.

"Oh ,I was a comms officer on a ship, It saw a few battles but nothing major." He said bringing up his six years of service.

"Ah, I see my son fought during the battle of earth and so did Raza's late husband." Rana said.

"Oh that reminds me of Thom, he was in the war he died during the battle of Reach." the rest of the time was spend discussing family and their various roles in the war that happened so few months ago. At half past six James's mother said she was going to be preparing dinner.

"Hmm I would like to help I'm renowned in my keep for my cooking." Rana said

"Oh do tell." James mother said as she and Rana entered the kitchen leaving Na'lle, Even and Raza alone.

"I don't know why my sister chose you human." Na'lle said giving James a stare of pure hate, "But do know, if you leave her, there will be no place safe for you to hide." He said, James looked almost as if he were about to die on the spot. Na'lle then got up.

"I will be outside, come to me when the food is prepared." he said as he left. James gave a pleading look to Raza as if to ask 'Is he serious?'

"Be calm he did that to my husband when we first married, he is simply overprotective of his younger sister." Raza said, James sighed this was going to be a long, long, long night ahead.

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><p><strong>To be Continued in Part 3<strong>

**Well that was fun to write see you guys and remember to watch my LP.**


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